FR2643945A1 - Rotary internal combustion engine including two adjacent cylindrical chambers - Google Patents

Abstract

The engine according to the invention comprises a casing 1, a cylindrical compression chamber 2 in which there emerges a pipe 3 for the intake of a gaseous fuel mixture, a cylindrical expansion chamber 4 into which there emerges an exhaust pipe 5, at least one passage 8 connecting the chambers, under the control of a stopper, a first cylindrical rotor 6 bearing against the lateral wall of the compression chamber and including at least one vane 11, a second cylindrical rotor 7 bearing against the lateral wall of the expansion chamber and including at least one vane 15, coupling means to allow the two rotors to rotate in synchronism, means for opening the stopper before the vane 11 reaches the passage 8 and for closing it again as soon as it moves away therefrom, and ignition members 32 for igniting the fuel mixture which has been transferred to the chamber 4, the vane 15 arriving in front of the passage 8 at the same time as the vane 11, or slightly before it.

Description

Rotary internal combustion engine with two adjacent cylindrical chambers
The present invention relates to a rotary combustion engine.

 Rotary combustion engines have mainly been developed to suppress reciprocating piston movements of conventional engines which create inertias which are detrimental to performance. However, these engines are not yet fully satisfactory. Their constituent parts indeed have generally very complicated shapes, which makes them difficult to manufacture. They also quickly present leaks due to intense wear of their essential parts.

 The present invention proposes to overcome these drawbacks and, to do this, it relates to a rotary combustion engine which is characterized in that it comprises a casing, a compression chamber having a cylindrical side wall and into which opens out. a duct for the admission of a gaseous combustible mixture, an expansion chamber having a cylindrical side wall and into which an exhaust duct opens, at least one channel connecting the compression and expansion chambers under the control of a shutter, a first cylindrical rotor bearing against the side wall of the compression chamber in which it is rotatably mounted about a fixed axis, a second cylindrical rotor bearing against the side wall of the expansion chamber in which it is mounted rotatable around a fixed axis, coupling means to allow the first and second rotors to rotate in synchronism, at least one pallet mounted on the first rotor and able to cooperate with the side wall of the compression chamber to compress the fuel mixture and transfer it to the channel, means for opening the shutter slightly before the pallet of the first rotor reaches the channel and for closing it as soon as it moves away from it, ignition members for igniting the pressurized fuel mixture as soon as it is transferred to the expansion chamber following the opening of the shutter, and at least one pallet mounted on the second rotor and able to cooperate with the side wall of the expansion chamber to allow the expansion of the combustion gases and their transfer to the exhaust duct, the pallet of the second rotor reaching in front of the channel at the same time as the pallet of the first rotor or slightly before.

 This engine consists of simple parts that can be manufactured with ease and at competitive shorts.

 To further simplify its structure, the compression and expansion chambers and the first and second rotors are preferably parallel.

It is also desirable that the coupling means drive the first and second rotor in the same direction, these means may for example include a first and second pinions wedged on shaft ends extending the first and second rotors outside. of the casing, and a third pinion meshing with the first and second pinions,
Advantageously, the third pinion meshes with a fourth pinion wedged on a control shaft extending parallel to the compression and expansion chambers and on which are mounted the means for opening the shutter, which preferably comprise a cam wedged on the control shaft and capable of cyclically moving the shutter, against the action of an elastic member, when the control shaft is rotated.

 According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the pallets are slidably mounted in housings formed radially in the first and second rotors and are provided, at their end adjacent to the side wall of the corresponding chamber, with a shoe mounted on a cylindrical ball joint whose axis is parallel to that of the first and second rotors.

 During the rotation of the motor rotors according to this embodiment, the vanes slide radially in their housings under the effect of centrifugal force which permanently keeps the pads against the side walls of the compression and expansion chambers.

 It will be specified here that the ball joints of the pallets allow the skids to come intimately against the side walls of the chambers and to ensure a good seal at this level, although the inclination of the pallets relative to the side wall of the corresponding chamber varies constantly. during engine operation.

 According to another embodiment of the invention, the rotors comprise an internal cavity containing a fixed rod coaxial with the corresponding chamber, and at least one cylindrical ball joint mounted in a lumen formed in their side wall, parallel to their axis of rotation, the pallets being articulated on the rods while crossing the ball joints with little play and bearing against the side walls of the compression and expansion chambers.

 During the operation of the motor according to this other embodiment, the ball joints of the rotors slide with gentle friction on the pallets which maintain a radial position relative to the chambers in which they are provided.

Furthermore, as the pallets are articulated on the fixed rods located along the axis of the corresponding chambers, they exert on the side walls of the chambers a constant pressure whatever the angular speed of the rotors,
To facilitate assembly operations, the rods are carried, at their ends, by two fixed end pieces extending coaxially with the first and second rotors, these end pieces being housed first in a blind hole formed in a transverse wall of the rotor corresponding and the second in a through hole formed in the other transverse wall of said corresponding rotor, the second end piece projecting out of the casing and being immobilized in an angular position determined by a link connecting it to the casing.

 By way of example, the second end piece can be immobilized in an orifice provided at one of the ends of the link, the other end of which is fixed to the casing by a bolt.

 When the first and second rotors each comprise two pallets, it is desirable that the pallets of the same rotor comprise one a central sleeve threaded on the corresponding rod and the other two lateral sleeves threaded on said corresponding rod on both sides other of the central sleeve.

 This arrangement, while facilitating assembly operations, has the advantage of being cumbersome.

 To be complete, it should be noted that a supercharged engine is obtained when the compression chamber has a diameter greater than that of the expansion chamber.

Two embodiments of the present invention will be described below by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a rotary engine according to the invention, the cut being carried out at the level of the spark plug,
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another rotary motor according to the invention, the cutting being carried out at a shutter,
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic horizontal section view of the motor visible in FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2,
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the gears coupling the rotors and the control means for the shutters,
FIG. 6 is a side view of a rod carrying two of the motor vanes visible in FIG. 2,
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of one of the engine vanes visible in FIG. 2,
FIG. 8 is a view in longitudinal section of the pallet visible in FIG. 7,
- Figure 9 is a side view of the pallet associated with that shown in section in Figures 7 and 8; and
FIG. 10 is a view in longitudinal section of one of the ball joints of the motor visible in FIG. 2.

 The rotary motor which can be seen in FIG. I comprises in a casing l symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal plane P, a compression chamber 2 into which opens a conduit 3 for admitting a gaseous combustible mixture, a chamber de-expansion 4 into which opens a conduit 5 for exhausting the combustion gases, a first cylindrical rotor 6 pressing against the side wall of the compression chamber 2 in which it is mounted to rotate about an axis A1, and a second cylindrical rotor 7 pressing against the side wall of the expansion chamber 4 in which it is rotatably mounted about an axis A2.

 The compression 2 and expansion 4 chambers are mutually parallel and symmetrical with respect to the plane of symmetry P of the casing 1. They are connected to each other by two channels 8 (only one of which is shown in dashed lines on the Figure l) can be opened or closed cyclically by two shutters such as those designated by the reference 9a in Figures 2 to 4 and which can be moved by control means 10a, the description of which will be given below.

 The rotors 6 and 7 are symmetrical with respect to the plane P and bear against the side walls of the compression 2 and expansion chambers 4, the first between the intake duct 3 and the channels 8 which are separated by a little more a quarter of a circumference and the second between the exhaust duct 5 and the channels 8 which are in turn separated by a little more than a quarter of a circumference.

 The rotor 6 comprises two radial vanes 11 mounted to slide with a slight clearance in a diametrical housing 12 and provided, at their end in contact with the side wall of the compression chamber 2, with a shoe 13 mounted on a cylindrical ball joint 14 of which the axis is parallel to the axis A1.

 Likewise, the rotor 7 comprises two radial vanes 15 slidably mounted in a diametrical housing 16 and provided, at their end in contact with the side wall of the expansion chamber 4, with a shoe 17 mounted on a cylindrical ball joint 18 of which l the axis is parallel to the A2 axis.

 It will be noted here that the length of the pallets 11 and 15 is nearly the same play as that of the compression and expansion chambers so as to ensure satisfactory sealing at the level of the transverse walls of the latter.

 The rotors 6 and 7 can rotate in the same direction and in synchronism under the control of coupling means such as those designated by the reference 19a in Figures 3 to 5 and which comprise a first pinion 20a wedged on a shaft end 21a extending the rotor 6 outside the casing 1, a second pinion 22a wedged on a shaft end 23a situated on the same side as the shaft end 21a and in turn extending the rotor 7 outside the casing 1, the pinions 20a and? 2a being identical, and a third pinion 24a wedged on a shaft end 25a carried by the casing 1, and meshing with the pinions 20a and 22a.

 When the rotors 6 and 7 rotate around their longitudinal axes A1 and A2, the vanes 11 and 15 slide continuously in the housings 12 and 16 under the effect of the centrifugal force which applies their shoe 13 and 17 against the side walls of the chambers 2 and 4, the ball joints 14 and 18 allowing the pads to ensure a satisfactory seal at these walls although the inclination of the pallets relative to the latter varies constantly.

 The control means 10a discussed above are arranged so as to open the shutters 9a slightly before the vanes 11 of the rotor 6 reach the channels 8 and to close them as soon as they move away from them. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, they comprise two cams 26a wedged on a control shaft 27a carrying a fourth pinion 28a meshing with the third pinion 24a1 the control shaft 27a extending parallel to the chambers 2 and 4 while the cams 26a are able to come into engagement with fingers 29a carried by rods 30a integral with the shutters 9a, and to lift the latter against the action of helical springs 31a surrounding the rods 30a, each time that the the control shaft rotates.

 It will also be specified that the engine which has just been described comprises a spark plug 32 located midway between the channels 8 and connected to the expansion chamber 4 via a conduit 33, as well as a shaft motor such as that shown at 34a in FIG. 3 and which extends the rotor 7, on the side opposite the end of the shaft 23a, at the end of the casing 1.

 We will now describe the operation of the motor shown in Figure 1 assuming that the rotors 6 and 7 rotate in the direction F clockwise around the fixed axes A1 and A2.

Beforehand, however, it should be noted that
the vanes 11 and the rotor 6 subdivide the compression chamber 2 into an elementary suction chamber Ci communicating with the intake duct 3, into an elementary pre-compression chamber C2 upstream of the suction chamber Ci, and in a compression chamber C3 upstream of the pre-compression chamber C2 and into which the channels 8 open
- The paddles 15 and the rotor 7 subdivide the expansion chamber 4 into an elementary ignition chamber C4 into which the channels 8 open, into an elementary expansion chamber C5 upstream from the ignition chamber C, and into a chamber elementary exhaust C6 upstream of the expansion chamber C5 and into which the exhaust duct 5 opens
- The rotor 7 has a slight advance relative to the rotor 6 so that its paddles 15 pass in front of the channels 8 slightly before the paddles 11 of the rotor.

 When a pallet 11 moves away from the inlet channel 3, it sucks a predetermined quantity of gaseous fuel mixture in the chamber C1 and begins to compress the gaseous fuel mixture contained in the chamber C2 while the other pallet 11 continues 9 compress the gaseous combustible mixture contained in the chamber C3 Until it reaches the immediate vicinity of the channels 8.

 At this instant, the cams 26a which are rotated with the control shaft 27a by the pinions 28a, 24a and 22a open the shutters 9a which thus allow the transfer into the ignition chamber C4 of the compressed fuel mixture in the chamber C3.

 Immediately after closing the shutters 9a which is practically instantaneous, the spark plug 32 produces a spark and causes the explosion of the combustible mixture contained in chamber C. The high pressure then created in this chamber is exerted on the corresponding pallet 15 with a such intensity that this rotates the rotor 7 in the direction of the arrow F.

 While the combustion gases contained in the chamber C4 gradually relax, just like those contained in the chamber Cg, the rotor 7 continues to rotate under the action of the two paddles 15 and the combustion gases contained in the chamber C6 are discharged through the exhaust pipe 5.

 Driven by the rotor 7 which is motor, the pinions 22a, 24a and 20a rotate the rotor 6 in the direction of the arrow F, which allows the suction of a new quantity of combustible mixture in the chamber C and the repetition of the operating cycle which has just been described.

 The motor power can of course be taken from the motor shaft 34a.

 It emerges from the above description that the present invention provides an engine in which no alternative inertia is created, which comprises few moving parts and whose motor phases follow one another almost continuously, without dead time.

 It should also be noted that the engine torque supplied by the engine according to the invention is practically constant, the pressure of the combustion gases decreasing as the volume of the chambers Ce and C5 and the active surface of the pallets 15 increase , and until these reach the plane containing the axis A2 and the generator of the rotor 7 which is in contact with the side wall of the expansion chamber 4.

 We will now describe the second engine in accordance with the invention with reference to FIGS. 2 to 10 in which the parts and constituent parts which correspond to the parts and constituent parts of the motor shown in FIG. 1 have been designated by the same references, supplemented by the letter a.

 The rotor 6a of the second motor comprises a central cylindrical cavity 35a containing a fixed rod 36a coaxial with the compression chamber 2a, two cylindrical openings 37a formed in its side wall, parallel to the axis Ala, and two cylindrical ball joints 38a mounted in the cylindrical openings 37a, these ball joints being traversed with a slight clearance by the pallets 11a.

 For its part, the rotor 7a comprises a central cylindrical cavity 39a containing a fixed rod 40a coaxial with the expansion chamber 4a, two cylindrical openings 41a formed in its side wall, parallel to the axis A2a, and two cylindrical ball joints 42a mounted in the cylindrical lights 41a and crossed with little play by the pallets 15a.

 The rod 36a which is shown in FIG. 6 is carried at its ends by two end pieces 43a, 44a extending coaxially with the first rotor 6a, the end piece 43 being housed in a blind hole 45a formed in the transverse wall of the rotor 6a which carries the end of the shaft 21a while the end piece 44a extends in a hole 46a passing through the other transverse wall of the rotor 6a and protrudes out of the casing la.

 Similarly, the rod 40a is carried at its ends by two end pieces 47a, 48a extending coaxially with the second rotor 7a, the end piece 47a being housed in a blind hole 49a formed in the transverse wall of the rotor 7a which carries the drive shaft 34a while the end piece 48a relaxes in a hole 50a passing through the other transverse wall and the end of the shaft 23a of the rotor 7a to project out of the casing la.

 The end pieces 44a and 48a of the rods 36a and 40a are immobilized in orifices 51a formed at one of the ends of two links 52a fixed to the casing 1, at their other end, by bolts 53a. But of course, other means could be used to immobilize these tips.

 Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the pallets îîa are articulated on the rod 36a, pass through the ball joints 38a and bear against the side wall of the compression chamber 2a in which they extend radially, and that '& in turn the pallets 15a are articulated on the rod 40a, pass through the ball joints 42a and bear against the side wall of the expansion chamber 4a in which they extend radially.

 It will also be noted that when the rotors 6a and 7a rotate in the clockwise direction F, the paddles ila and 15a rotate with them while retaining their radial direction while the ball joints 38a and 42a slide with gentle friction against them.

 Finally, it will be specified, with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, that the vanes of the same rotor have one a central sleeve 54a threaded on the corresponding rod and the other two lateral sleeves 55a threaded on the same rod and share and on the other of the central sleeve 54a. To facilitate assembly operations, the sleeves are preferably made up of two complementary parts, as shown in FIG. 7.

 The essential advantage of the motor shown in FIGS. 2 to 10 resides in the fact that the pallets 1a and 15a exert on the side walls of the compression chambers 2a and of expansion ka a pressure which remains constant whatever the speed of rotation of the rotors 6a, 7a.

This pressure is in fact independent of the centrifugal force exerted on the pallets since these are retained on the fixed rods 36a and 40a by their sleeves 54a and 55a.

 To be complete, it will be specified that the operation of the second engine according to the invention is the same as that of the engine according to FIG. 1. It therefore need not be described here.

 It will also be noted that the two motors according to the invention could be supercharged by producing their compression chambers 2,2a with a diameter greater than that of their expansion chamber 4,4a.

 It appears from the above that the present invention eliminates dead times, allows the production of a constant engine torque, eliminates alternative inertial forces and minimizes parasitic friction.

Claims (14)

 1. Rotary combustion engine characterized in that it comprises a casing (1, la), a compression chamber (2,2a) having a cylindrical side wall and into which opens a conduit (3,3a) for admission of a combustible gas mixture, an expansion chamber (4,4a) having a cylindrical side wall and into which opens an exhaust duct (5,5a), at least one channel (8,8a) connecting the compression chambers and expansion under the control of a shutter (9a), a first cylindrical rotor (6,6a) bearing against the side wall of the compression chamber in which it is rotatably mounted around a fixed axis (Al, Ala ), a second cylindrical rotor (7,7a) bearing against the side wall of the expansion chamber in which it is rotatably mounted around a fixed axis (A2, A2a), coupling means (19a) to allow at the first and second rotors to rotate in synchronism, at least one pallet (ll, lla) mounted on the first rotor and able to cooperate with the side wall of the compression chamber to compress the fuel mixture and transfer it to the channel1 means (10a) to open the shutter slightly before the pallet of the first rotor reaches the channel and to close it as it moves away from it, from the ignition members (32) to ignite the fuel mixture under pressure as it is transferred to the expansion chamber as a result of the opening of the shutter, and at least one pallet (15, 15a) mounted on the second rotor and able to cooperate with the side wall of the expansion chamber to allow the expansion of the combustion gases and their transfer to the exhaust duct, the pallet of the second rotor reaching in front of the channel at the same time than the pallet of the first rotor or slightly before.  2. Motor according to claim 1, characterized in that the compression (2.2a) and expansion (4.4a) and the first and second rotors (6.6a; 7.7a) chambers are parallel.  3. Motor according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the coupling means (19a) drive the first and second rotors (6,6a 7,7a) in the same direction.  4. Motor according to claim 3, characterized in that the coupling means (19a) comprise first and second pinions (20a, 22a) wedged on shaft ends (21a, 23a) extending the first and second rotors (6,6A; 7,7a) outside the casing (1, via), and a third pinion (24a) meshing with the first and second pinions.  5. Motor according to claim 4, characterized in that the third pinion (24a) meshes with a fourth pinion (28a) wedged on a control shaft (27a) extending parallel to the compression chambers (2,2a) and trigger (4,4a) and on which are mounted the opening means (lova) of the shutter (9a).  6. Motor according to claim 5, characterized in that the opening means (lova) comprise a cam (26a) wedged on the control shaft (27a) and able to cyclically move the shutter (9a), å l 'against the action of an elastic member (31a), when the control shaft is rotated.  7. Motor according to any one of claims 1 & 6, characterized in that the pallets (11,15) are slidably mounted in housings (12,16) formed radially in the first and second rotors (6,7) and are provided at their end adjacent to the side wall of the corresponding chamber (2,4), with a shoe (13,17) mounted on a cylindrical ball joint (14,18) whose axis is parallel to that of the first and second rotors.  8. Motor according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the rotors (6a, 7a) have an internal cavity (35a, 39a) containing a fixed rod (36a, 40a) coaxial with the corresponding chamber (2a , 4a), and at least one cylindrical ball joint (38a, 42a) mounted in a slot (37a.41a) formed in their side wall, parallel to their axis of rotation (Aia, A2a), the pallets (lla, 15a) being articulated on the rods while crossing the ball joints with a slight clearance and bearing against the side walls of the compression and expansion chambers.  9. Motor according to claim 8, characterized in that the rods (36a, 40a) are carried, at their ends, by two fixed ends (43a, 44a; k7a, 48a) extending coaxially with the first and second rotors (6a, 7a).  10. Motor according to claim 9, characterized in that the two end pieces (43a, 44a; 47a, 48a) of the rods (36a, 4Oa) are housed first in a blind hole (45a, 49a) formed in a transverse wall of the corresponding rotor (6a, 7a) and the second in a through hole (46a, 50a) formed in the other transverse wall of said corresponding rotor, the second end piece (44a, 48a) projecting out of the casing (1, la) and being immobilized in an angular position determined by a link (52a) connecting it to the casing (l, la).  11. Motor according to claim 10, characterized in that the second end piece (44a, 48a) is immobilized in an orifice (51a) formed at one of the ends of the link (52a) the other end of which is fixed to the casing (la) by a bolt (53a).  12. Motor according to any one of claims 8 to 11 when the first and second rotors each have two vanes, characterized in that the vanes (lla, 15a) of the same rotor (6a, 7a) have one sleeve central (54a) threaded on the corresponding rod (36a, 40a) and the other two lateral sleeves (55a) threaded on said corresponding rod on either side of the central sleeve.  13. Engine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the compression chamber (2,2a) has a diameter greater than that of the expansion chamber (4,4a).  14. Motor according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second rotor (4,4a) is extended outside the casing (l, la) by a motor shaft (34a).